New Delhi, May 10: The controversial triple talaq provision in Islamic law, with its unmistakable anti-women bias, has become even more contentious with a Delhi court sanctioning a divorce sought by a man through an agent chosen by him.
The reason for this unusual third party intervention was that the man himself did not know Arabic, in which the fateful words have to be pronounced, and, therefore, took the easy way out by asking someone who knew the language to utter the words.
Not surprisingly, the legality of the exercise was questioned by the wife, who insisted that the divorce could be valid only if the husband said the words in Arabic. The court ruled, however, that the laws of the Shia community allowed such a procedure.
Arguably, the last has not been heard on the subject since the case may go to a higher court while various interpretations of the laws concerning both the Shias and Sunnis will be offered by Muslim clerics and the intelligentsia.
But even as the debate continues, what this latest episode underlines yet again is the need for a codification of these personal laws, which has been demanded by the Muslims themselves and particularly by the women, who are mostly at the receiving end of peremptory male demands.
As is known, the triple talaq provision is hemmed in by various conditions even in its original form, the most significant of which is that the word has to be uttered over three months, and not at one go. Besides, the practice has fallen into disuse in most Islamic countries, including Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
It persists in India largely because of the prevailing orthodoxy in Muslim society. It is obvious that an element of uniformity has to be introduced in order to eliminate the scope for the misuse and whimsicality relating to a step which affects not only the husband and wife, but also their children and families.
However, the process of wading through centuries-old rules and regulations to find an acceptable procedure is liable to be compounded by ignorance and prejudice.
–Agencies